Churchill Financial Advisors LLC Takes $6.12 Million Position in Applied Materials, Inc. $AMAT

Churchill Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Materials, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMAT) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 23,810 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,119,000. Applied Materials accounts for about 1.9% of Churchill Financial Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Highline Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Highline Wealth Partners LLC now owns 116 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Joseph Group Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Materials in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 52.4% in the fourth quarter. Dogwood Wealth Management LLC now owns 128 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Materials by 147.2% in the fourth quarter. IMG Wealth Management Inc. now owns 131 shares of the manufacturing equipment provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.56% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMAT has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Applied Materials from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $450.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Applied Materials in a research note on Friday, May 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $517.00 price target for the company. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Applied Materials from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Applied Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Twenty-seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $465.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Materials

In other news, Director Judy Bruner sold 2,500 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $391.71, for a total value of $979,275.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 26,089 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,219,322.19. This trade represents a 8.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Adam Sanders sold 534 shares of Applied Materials stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $379.16, for a total value of $202,471.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 4,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,753,615. This trade represents a 10.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Materials Price Performance

Shares of AMAT stock opened at $432.16 on Monday. Applied Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.47 and a 1 year high of $448.45. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $387.09 and its 200-day moving average is $326.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $342.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.58, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22.

Applied Materials (NASDAQ:AMAT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The manufacturing equipment provider reported $2.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.68 by $0.18. Applied Materials had a net margin of 29.31% and a return on equity of 36.97%. The business had revenue of $7.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.39 earnings per share. Applied Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Applied Materials has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 3.160-3.560 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Materials, Inc. will post 12.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 21st will be paid a $0.53 dividend. This is an increase from Applied Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 21st. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Applied Materials’s payout ratio is 19.91%.

About Applied Materials

Applied Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of equipment, services and software used to manufacture semiconductor chips, flat panel displays and other advanced materials. Headquartered in Santa Clara, California, the company designs and sells capital equipment and related technologies that enable production of integrated circuits, display panels and materials used across the electronics supply chain.

Applied Materials’ offerings include process equipment and factory software that support critical steps in device fabrication, such as deposition, etch, implantation, inspection and metrology, as well as systems for packaging and advanced heterogeneous integration.